Eyes Open
by Sage Londyn
Summary: One night can change the rest of your life, something Rowan Martin found out the hard way after a one night stand in New York. Now a single teenage mom, she is sent to live with her aunt and cousin in Beacon Hills. But never thought she'd run into her fling from Brooklyn and find out that her daughter may not be human. Plus Rowan has some secrets of her own... Derek/OC
1. Keep Your Eyes Open

**Chapter 1 - Eyes Open **

_So here you are; two steps ahead and staying on guard. Every lesson forms a new scar. They never thought you'd make it this far._

_But turn around… oh, they've surrounded you. It's a showdown. And nobody comes to save you now. _

_But you've got something they don't. Yeah, you've got something they don't. You've just gotta keep your eyes open._

_Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown. Everybody's watching to see the fallout. Even when you're sleeping keep your eyes open. (Eyes Open – Taylor Swift)_

* * *

"She's so precious, how old is she?" An older woman one seat over asked.

Rowan turned her head from looking out of the window and smiled as she said, "She's almost four months."

After a pause she let out a small laugh as she looked down to her daughter and continued, "I don't think I've ever seen her sleeping this peacefully before."

Nodding the older woman said, "It's the sound of the plane engine, when my kids were babies they'd go straight to sleep when we'd fly for vacation."

"I thought she'd be awake and crying." Rowan continued.

"I'm Elise Howard." She introduced herself as she extended a hand.

Gently shifting the sleeping infant, Rowan leaned over and shook her hand as she said, "Rowan Martin."

"Your little sister?" She asked.

Rowan cringed at the question, knowing the judgmental stare that followed her answer to those kinds of questions.

"My daughter." She replied softly as she stared forward for a few seconds before looking back over to the other passenger.

Elise's lips pursed into a thin line before she nodded and said "I was 19 when I had my son… you look younger than that though."

"I just turned 16." Rowan said as she turned to look back out of the window and shook her head. This wasn't at all what she thought her life would turn into either, the saying 'one moment can change your entire life' was true.

Letting out the breath she'd been holding she thought back to the night that changed everything.

**~()~ (Flashback) ~()~**

_"Come on, cheer up!" Serena exclaimed as she looked over to her friend Rowan._

_"How can I cheer up? We have less than 2 weeks until school starts." Rowan complained as she laid the hair straightener down on the bathroom counter._

_Applying her second coat of mascara Serena said "I know and all you've done is mope around all summer because of what's-his-name."_

_"Corey…" She started to say but got cut off._

_"It doesn't matter what his name is. Forget him, he dumped you… he sucks. And all you need to get over him is a good one night stand." Serena said with a playful wink._

_Rolling her eyes and digging through her make-up bag for her eyeliner, Rowan said "No way…"_

_"Yes way! Corey was your first everything; you need to get out there and test the waters. See what you've been missing by dating a stupid high schooler. My sister got us fake I.D's we're going to some bar with her and her friends, some guy is bound to buy you a drink and strike up a conversation." She argued, as she picked up the hot hair straightener and used it to make her dark brown, almost black hair lay in waves._

_"We're going to be the only 15 year olds at the bar, I wouldn't even know what to say if some guy did approach me! And just because you made out with a college sophomore last week, doesn't make you some relationship expert." Rowan said as she ran a brush through her blonde hair._

_"Well you're obviously not going to start the conversation off with saying you're 15 years old!" She exclaimed._

_When rowan shot her a look, Serena sighed and said "All we've been saying this week is how much we wish we were more like my sister and her friends. Fun and carefree. These fake and tonight, is the first step in leaving our old selves behind."_

_Stepping slightly behind her friend, Serena placed her hands on Rowan's shoulders and said, "This is the new us, Ro. You look amazing, so own it."_

_"And why did we want to give ourselves this transformation again?" Rowan asked, her expression timid as she looked as her reflection, hardly reckoning the green eyed, blonde girl staring back at her._

_"Because we can't just go through high school always being pushed into the friend zone. No one notices us, if we don't make a change now. We're going to be invisible and irrelevant for high school and college… probably for the rest of our lives. Is that really what you want; to be irrelevant?" Serena asked dramatically._

_Laughing at her friend, Rowan shook her head, "I guess not."_

_"Serena! Rowan! Hurry up, we're leaving!" Serena's older sister, Santana yelled from the living room._

_"Good! Me either, so let's gather what confidence we have, forget about our formerly geeky selves and be someone else for the night." Serena said as she unplugged the hair straightener and turned to leave the small bathroom both girls had squeezed into._

_Taking one last look in the mirror and promising herself that she'd make the night amazing, Rowan turned and followed after her friend._

_The two teens had been staying with Serena's sister, Santana and her 3 roommates that week. And seeing how the 4 older girls lived had made them realize they wanted their lives to be more than just high school gossip and homework._

_But neither of them considered that the night could have consequences, and make them realize that sometimes being a teenager with school as the first thing on your mind isn't a bad thing. Trying to grow up too fast can have its downfalls._

_After they were inside the bar, Serena squealed with excitement as a guy who looked to be in his late 20's nodded at her with a wide smile; laying the pool stick down he headed up towards the bar._

_Ignoring the unsettling feeling in her stomach Rowan smiled at her friend._

_"You've already hooked a guy." She said._

_"And I'm not the only one who's caught someone's eye…" She said trying to subtly nod to a small table in the corner where a guy with dark hair, dressed in all black was sitting._

_"Is he really staring at me?" she asked, quietly as she looked behind her._

_"Uh, yeah." Serena said watching him as he watched Rowan._

_"He's… really freaking hot." Rowan finally admitted, as she glanced back over towards him._

_Serena cocked her head to the side confused; the guy had looked down and smiled to himself when Rowan had spoken, almost like he could have heard her. But it was impossible; he was across the room in a noisy bar._

_As Serena turned her attention back to the guy who had been playing pool, but was now drinking at the bar. She said, "I'm going to get a drink and talk to that guy up there. Promise me something…"_

_"What?" Rowan asked as she looked at her._

_"If tall, dark and ridiculously hot leaves his table and tries to put some moves on you, don't let him go home alone." Serena said, flashing her a wide smile._

_Rowan playfully rolled her green eyes and laughed, sometimes she felt like her life would be entirely different if she could have an ounce of her best friend's confidence._

_As she watched her friend walk away, she suddenly called out "Serena!"_

_Spinning around she asked, "What?"_

_"Just… be careful." Rowan warned, a strong feeling of dread rising inside of her._

_"I brought protection in case he didn't." She playfully responded with a wink as she held up her clutch bag._

_Shaking her head, Rowan said "I'm serious, Serena. Be careful…"_

_Her smile fell at the seriousness on her friends face and she nodded._

_Once Serena was gone and busy talking to the attractive pool player, Rowan took a seat at the other end of the bar and ordered a drink. Hoping it would calm her nerves some, but when she walked into the bar it felt cold and dead._

_When she was almost done with her drink, she heard someone from beside her order a drink. Startled she jumped and looked over to the guy now sitting beside her._

_She'd been so distracted by her thoughts and the bad feelings she was having, she hadn't noticed the guy move up to the bar from his table in the corner._

_Briefly her eyes traveled over his profile from the side, from his dark hair to his leather jacket._

_Taking a deep breath and reminding herself of what Serena had been telling her all night, she smiled at him when he turned to look at her._

_When the bartender sat another glass down in front of her and took her empty one, she blushed and quickly stuttered out a thanks to the handsome stranger._

_He lived close to the bar and visited it from time to time, normally just sitting back and watching people._

_He'd seen the girls that Rowan had arrived with in there before, normally all of them loud and obnoxious, loving to be the center of attention. But he'd never seen her before._

_From the sounds of the conversation he'd overheard from Rowan and Serena, it seemed like she was there looking for the same thing he was that night._

_"I'm Rowan." She said, shaking him from his thoughts._

_"Derek." He replied, smiling as he heard her heart starting to race._

_"I haven't seen you here before." He said, watching her face as he spoke._

_"Yeah, I don't live in Brooklyn. My best friend and I are here visiting her sister before… classes start up again." She said, deciding that 'classes' sounded like a more mature thing to say than 'school'._

_With any luck he'd think she was older than she really was and she'd be able to keep his interest._

_"What are you studying?" He asked her, as he took a drink._

_She smiled as she realized he did think she was in college._

_"Right now I'm just taking some general classes, I'm not sure what I want to major in yet." She said, not technically lying to him._

_"have you always lived in New York?" she asked him, as she took a big drink from her glass, wanting to get rid of her inhibitions._

_"Uh, no… I was born in California." He admitted, but didn't go into much detail, he learned years ago how dangerous opening up to someone could be._

_"Really? My cousin actually lives in California… it's a small town though, you've probably never heard of it." She said, thinking about her cousin Lydia who lived in Beacon Hills._

_"You want another drink?" He questioned._

_Looking down to her glass, she paused to think. She didn't want to drink too much, and was already feeling the effects of her first two._

_Finally deciding one more drink would be all the liquid courage she needed, she nodded and said "Sure, thank you."_

_~(The next morning)~_

_Rowan's eyes fluttered open when she felt the bed move._

_Looking over she saw Derek sleeping with his back to her, her eyes focused on the tattoo between his shoulder blades. She hadn't noticed it the night before._

_At that thought, she gasped, her green eyes wide as she looked around the unfamiliar room franticly._

_She had actually went home with him and had a one night stand. Sitting up on the side of the bed she quickly grabbed her dress from the night before and pulled it on. Frowning when she didn't see her bra or underwear anywhere._

_Turning back she looked at him still sleeping in the bed._

_She started to reach a hand out to shake him and wake him up, but then she stopped and wondered if she should wake him up._

_It would feel a lot less shameful if she just left and never had to face him, or her recklessness again._

_What would she even say to him? She was pretty sure she'd already assured him she wasn't normally 'that type of girl' the night before on the walk to his apartment building._

_When she finally located her pursed, she left his small New York apartment and flagged down the first taxi she'd seen._

_On the way to the building Santana lived in, she tried to call Serena several times, but her friend didn't answer._

_It was already going on noon, she couldn't believe she'd slept for that long. But then again she wasn't even sure what time they'd gotten to his place._

_As the full effect of her hangover hit her, she groaned and hung her head in pain and disbelief at herself. Wishing she'd only had –had one more drink, instead of the shots she'd done after she promised herself no more alcohol that night._

_With her head still hung and feeling sick to her stomach, she didn't even see the bar she'd met Derek at was roped off with crime scene tape._

_After paying the taxi driver she headed up the several flights of stairs towards Serena's older sisters apartment, feeling more queasy with every step. She felt like every movement she made was going to result in her vomiting._

_As she neared the door of the apartment she considered the fact that she'd never really been drunk before, and now that she had it was an experience she didn't want to repeat._

_Raising her fist she knocked on the door, cringing at the noise._

_It was only seconds later that the door flew open and Serena wrapped her arms around her._

_"I need… aspirin." Rowan said, not sure why her friend was acting like that._

_"Thank god!" Santana said as she stood behind Serena._

_"We were just… freaking out!" Serena agreed as she let go of her friend and rushed her inside of the warm, small apartment._

_"Why?" she asked, confused._

_"You didn't hear about the girl they found outside of the bar?" Serena asked, as her sister went to get the teenager something for her headache._

_"Huh?" Rowan asked, irritated at how it was taking her so long to process everything she was being told._

_"Tthe bar we were at last night… a girl was killed in the alley behind it last night." Serena said, as some tears fell down her face._

_A few seconds later Rowan's green eyes widened and she gasped, "What?"_

_"She was strangled to death." Santana agreed as she gave her the pills and a bottle of water._

_"You saved my life, Ro." Serena said as she watched her best friend took the medicine._

_"What?" she asked as she finished off the bottle of water. She couldn't remember ever being so thirsty before._

_"There was a witness to the murder and they arrested the guy early this morning… look!" Serena said, her voice shaky as she showed her the newspaper._

_It felt like the floor had been dropped from under her feet as she stared at the picture on the front of the newspaper of the man being led outside in handcuffs. The same guy Serena had been talking too at the bar._

_"After you warned me to be careful, you had me so uneasy that I couldn't even stomach one drink… so I stopped talking to him and Santana taught me how to play pool. If you hadn't have warned me… oh my god. That really could have been me." Serena said, dropping the paper to the floor and shuddering at the dark thoughts running through her mind._

_"How did you know?" Santana asked her as she watched Rowan pull Serena in for a tight hug._

_A few tears slid down her cheeks and she shook her head as she said, "I don't know… when we walked into the bar it just felt… like a graveyard or something."_

_~(A year later)~_

_"You can't just ship me off like this… it's inhumane!" Rowan shouted angrily as she looked around her room, where all of her clothes and belongings had been boxed up._

_"I'm not shipping you off, honey. I really think this is for the best." Rowan's mother, Debra said with sigh._

_"No, you don't. You're doing this because Jeff doesn't want me here!" she snapped._

_"Jeff doesn't have a problem with you… he works so early in the morning, and Lynn's crying keeps him awake." She defended her current boyfriend._

_"Why do you always do this, mom? No matter what, you always pick someone over me. We were doing fine on our own before you met him, just kicked him out! Not me, I am your daughter." She pleaded, feeling more helpless by the minute._

_Debra angrily shook her head at her daughters words._

_"You don't do anything anymore, Rowan. You go to school, then work and then you come home to sleep. With Lydia and her mother both there, you'll have some help raising Lynnox. I talked to my brother and he said that Carol got the house in the divorce, so I called her and she's thrilled to have you come live with them." Debra offered more excuses for her behavior._

_"I'm exhausted all the time mom, I don't feel like doing anything." Rowan explained, not understanding why her mom didn't get that._

_"You haven't event talked to Serena in at least 6 months." She reminded her teenage daughter._

_"Great, thanks for reminding me of how my best friend picked being popular over being friends with the teenage mom." Rowan snapped sarcastically._

_"And who's fault is it that you're a baby raising a baby?" Debra said with her hands on her hips._

_Rowan sighed and looked around her room, the room she'd called hers for close to 8months._

_It was a nice sized bedroom, but was pretty cramped with her bed on one side of the room and her daughters crib on the other side._

_Seeing her daughter looking around Debra said, "Carol said she's going to fix up a nursery for Lynnox… you'll have a room to yourself again."_

_"It doesn't matter, I'm up all night with her anyways… it's just easier to share a room." She said, knowing nothing her mom said was going to make the situation any better._

_All she really wanted was for her mom to choose her over a guy, but she never had and Rowan was sure her mom never would._

**~()~ (End of flashback) ~()~**

Rowan jumped when Lynnox started to cry, and startled her from her thoughts.

"Excuse me." She said as she stood up and headed out to the isle, where she walked back and forth with her baby, trying to soothe her.

She ignored the rude stares from annoyed passengers on the plane.

"Shh, Lynn… just a few more hours and we'll be at our new home." Rowan said, trying to remain calm even though she was about ready to cry along with her infant daughter.

"Rowan, did you bring her a pacifier?" Elise asked as she joined the stressed teen in the isle.

"Yeah, it's in the carryon bag." She said as he headed back to the row they'd been sitting in.

After watching Rowan struggle with the door to the overhead compartment while trying to hold and gently bounce Lynn with the other arm, Elise said "Here, let me help you."

"Thanks." Rowan said, a little choked up as it seemed like every minute her daughters cries were getting louder and louder.

After pulling the teens carryon bag from the compartment and finding the pacifier, she handed it to Rowan who quickly put it in her baby's mouth.

Almost instantly she quieted down.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, thankful for the silence Rowan then looked up to see Elise tucking the bag back in the compartment.

"Thank you… how did you know it would work?" Rowan asked, softly afraid to speak too loud and disturb Lynn again.

"The pressure in the cabin… having her suck on her pacifier or feeding her will relieve the pressure." She offered with a kind smile as she sat back down in her seat, and pulled her sweater on.

"Thank you." Rowan repeated, as she laid her head back against the seat.

**~()~**

After getting Lynn asleep in her crib, Rowan looked around the nursery Lydia and her mom had set up. It was beautiful with orange walls, brand new furniture and even pink blocks with white lettering on the wall spelling out Lynnox.

"She's so cute." Lydia whispered as she joined her cousin in the room.

"I know." Rowan said smiling as she turned on the baby monitor and pointed the camera towards the crib.

"It has a camera?" Lydia asked as she followed Rowan from the nursery.

"Yeah." She said nodding as she showed her the other monitor that had not only a speaker, but a small screen showing live footage of her daughter sleeping. "Back home, as soon as I turned 16 I got a job at a bookstore and every single penny I made went towards baby supplies."

"I still cannot believe you had a kid." Lydia admitted, remembering back to the times that Debra would take off on vacation in the summer with whatever boyfriend she was seeing at the time and leave Rowan there with them to watch.

"I can't believe your parents are really divorced." Rowan replied, after a small pause she frowned and asked "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay, and trust me we're all better off with them separated. It's gotten so bad that they can't even be in the same room without fighting." Lydia explained, shaking her head as she thought of how her dad had made her choose who she wanted to live with.

As she helped Rowan hang her clothes up in the closet Lydia held out a cute dark green skirt and then eyed her cousin as she said "At least you don't look like you've had a baby."

Rowan looked down to herself and nodded.

"It's our genes… we've got good genes." Lydia continued as she hung up a jacket.

"I'm happy I have her… I mean, I love her more than anything but I really just never pictured myself being a single mom at 16." She said so quietly she wasn't sure if Lydia had heard her.

After putting the dress on she'd been looking at on a hanger and putting it in the closet, she walked over to where Rowan was putting more clothes in a dresser.

"I don't think anyone pictures being a single mom, especially not as a teenager." She reasoned.

Rowan nodded, knowing she was right.

"Speaking of the single part…" she said her voice trailing off as she waited for an explanation.

"When I first found out I was pregnant, I went back to the same bar I'd met him in every weekend for 3 months and I never saw him again." She explained.

Shrugging Lydia said, "I don't know… I guess, I just kind of figured that since you grew up not knowing who your dad was, or anything about him that you'd want something different for Lynn."

"I do or I did. I just wasn't even sure what to do, I mean it was one night… I don't even know his last name. I knew where his apartment was, but I couldn't just show up out of the blue and be like 'hey Derek, here's your daughter.' And the longer I waited the harder it got to even consider seeing him again." She reasoned as she began to take some framed photos out of a box.

When Lydia gave her a disbelieving look she sighed and admitted, "And then there'd be other things I'd have to own up to; like the fact that I'm not really in college and that I'm a teenager."

"So you'd rather let your child grow up fatherless than admit you were horny and lied to get some sexy older guy?" Lydia asked her.

Rowan rolled her eyes and a jolt of pain shot through her heart as she thought of how much Lydia reminded her of Serena.

"I'm serious!" Lydia exclaimed, but even she let out a small laugh at her words.

She was quiet as she started to arrange the framed pictures on her dresser.

Sighing in defeat she finally said, "I did go back to his apartment last month when my mom told me I was being sent to live here… but the place was empty. I finally got ahold of the building owner and he said that Derek had broken his lease and moved saying something about needing to find his sister."

Lydia frowned as she saw the sadness in her cousin's eyes.

"We could always start some webpage to find him?" she offered cocking her head to the side as she could already see it in her mind.

"Uh, no. We should not advertise to the world that some older guy unknowingly knocked up a 15 year old last year." Rowan said, shaking her head.

"True… but there has to be something we can do." Lydia said as she picked up one of the pictures of Lynnox from the dresser and looked at it.

"it doesn't matter, for all we know Lynn's better off not knowing him. And anyways, she's got me… I can raise her a hell of a lot better than my mom raised me." Rowan said confidently.

"Hey… what's wrong with her eyes in this picture?" Lydia asked as she studied the picture even closer.

"Oh, that's from a set of her photo's that I didn't get retouched. For some reason whenever someone takes a picture of her with the flash on, her eyes give off some sort of glare." Rowan said with a shrug as she put up a picture of herself and Lydia from when they were younger.

"Human eyes don't reflect light like that." Lydia stated, as she sat the picture frame back down and went back to hanging up clothes in the closet.

* * *

**A/N – Since we don't know much about Lydia's parent's, I'm just making it up as I go along. **

**Thank you so much for reading the first chapter, I hope you all liked it so far. ^_^**

**I'd really appreciate it if you would take the time to leave a review and let me know you've read the opening the chapter, and if you're interested in seeing this story continued. I always love hearing from my readers! ^_^**


	2. Body in the Woods

**Chapter 2 – Body in the Woods**

* * *

A few days later after getting unpacked and adjusting to the move Rowan sat her alarm early to get up and go for a morning jog like she used to do before she moved to Beacon Hills.

After changing into a tank top, a pair of sweat pants and her Nike shoes she headed down the hallway surprised to see the door to the nursery open and her Aunt Carol already changing Lynnox.

"Did she cry, I must have been in the shower and not heard her." Rowan quickly apologized.

Smiling at her niece Carol said, "No, I'm normally up this early for work, but I took this week off. I just thought I'd check on her and she was already awake."

"Oh… well, thank you." Rowan said unsure.

Overtime her mom had –had to help with anything related to Lynn, she'd yell at Rowan.

"I love babies." Carol said as she ran a finger down the infants cheek.

Smiling at her aunt's words, Rowan said "Thanks for getting her changed, I'm gonna get the jogging stroller from the garage and go for a run."

"You wake up this early to run?" She asked surprised.

Nodding Rowan insecurely placed a hand over her stomach as she said, "I didn't think I'd ever get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight."

Nodding and letting out a small laugh Carol said, "You must be doing something right, I certainly didn't look like that when Lydia was 4 months old."

As Rowan looked around the nursery, Carol waited a few seconds before she said "If you want to run by yourself, I can watch Lynnox."

Thinking that her aunt either thought Rowan was incapable of raising her baby or that she wanted someone to do all the work for her, Rowan declined the offer, "It's okay, she's my daughter and I can take care of her by myself."

"I know you can… after all with your mother, it doesn't surprise me you've been doing all of the work." Carol said without thinking.

When Rowan glanced down to the floor in response to her words, Carol quickly apologized, "I'm sorry. Debra and I have just never seen eye to eye on… well, on anything really."

With a dry laugh Rowan nodded and said, "Me either."

"Really, I don't mind watching her. I love babies." Carol cooed as she looked down to the infant in her arms.

Her eyes widened as she looked up and said, "Not that I want Lydia to have any soon, and I really wish you'd waited, but… babies are wonderful whenever they get here."

A few tears burnt her eyes as she stared at her aunt in shock.

"What?" Carol asked her.

"It's just… no one has ever helped me with her before." Rowan admitted as she wiped tears from her cheeks and then mumbled, "Stupid post pregnancy hormones."

After thanking her, Rowan turned to leave the room but turned back and said, "Oh, and I'll be applying for jobs in the next few days too, I'm keeping a list of everything you bought and I'll pay you back."

"You really are nothing like your mother." Carol exclaimed then added "It's not necessary, I'd rather you focus on school."

"I'm getting a job." Rowan argued.

After stepping outside into the cool morning air and putting in her ear buds, Rowan looked around before she began her jog.

It was close to an hour later that her foot got caught on a raised tree root and she fell to the ground with a hard thud.

Groaning in pain she sat up and rubbed her now sore knee, looking around her eyes widened in fear.

She was now sitting in the middle of the woods, and had no idea how she'd gotten there. The last thing she remembered was leaving the house.

Pulling the ear buds from her ears and tucking her iPod into her pocket she slowly stood up, trying to remember her run but couldn't recall anything.

She looked around the tall trees and all the leaves on the ground, wondering which way she'd start to go to get out of there.

She didn't know if there were any wild animals she needed to be worried about, or snakes to watch out for.

An ice cold gust of wind circled around her before it blew towards the left.

Her green eyes widened; it was a still morning, no wind… not even a slight breeze. There was no reason for there to be a strong, cold wind.

Turning she walked in the direction where the strange gust of wind had gone.

It wasn't long before she reached the charred remains of a seemingly abandoned house. "What the hell?"She mumbled under her breath as she started for the house, intending to go inside and looked around out of curiosity.

But she stopped walking when she heard a car in the distance, looking down she saw she was standing right on top of some fresh tire tracks.

Hurrying back into the tree line, she stood behind a large tree trunk and waited until she saw a black Camaro pull up to the house.

Realizing someone must still own the property, she turned and headed back in the direction she'd come, hoping to find the road soon.

**~(A week later)~**

Rowan was sitting on the floor watching Lynnox as she lay on her back on her play mat and happily reached up towards the brightly colored toys dangling above her.

Every once in a while Rowan would lightly hit one of the toys so it would swing and earn some high pitched giggles from her daughter.

"Are you listening?" Lydia asked, a hint of irritation in her voice when she noticed her cousin wasn't paying attention to her.

"Yeah… you were saying how Beacon Hills has the best lacrosse team." Rowan responded glancing over her shoulder to where Lydia was sitting on the couch texting Jackson.

"Yes! Jackson is the captain and the best player on the team." Lydia continued a proud smile on her face.

"That's great, maybe one of the game nights I can find a babysitter and go to one of the games with you." Rowan said smiling as she leaned forward and moved the hanging toys again for Lynnox.

"My mom will do it." Lydia offered as she dropped her phone in her lap.

"I'll do what?" Carol asked as she walked in the room with a large box in her arms.

"Watch Lynn so Rowan can see a lacrosse game." She stated as she watched her mom sit the box down on the coffee table with a grunt.

"Yeah, of course I'll watch her." Carol said smiling.

"Thank you." Rowan responded smiling.

After replying to another text message, Lydia smiled as she watched Lynn giggle and reach up trying to grab onto the swinging toys.

"I was cleaning out the basement…" Carol started to say but Lydia spoke and cut her off.

"You've been saying you were going to do that for years." Her eyebrows lowered in suspicion as she spoke.

"Anyways… I brought this box of things up, I thought you girls might want to look trough. There's the picture albums with pictures from when you were both little." Carol said as she sat down in a chair and wiped her dusty hands on her jeans.

Standing up Rowan walked over to the coffee table and looked in the large box, there were some naked Barbie's, stuffed animals, photo albums and some old board games.

"Candy land! I used to love this game." Rowan said with a laugh as she held up the board game.

"What else is in there?" Lydia asked as she laid her phone down and scooted to the edge of her seat.

"Besides Candy land and this half deck of Uno cards it looks like there's…" Her voice trailed off as she picked up the last board game in the very bottom of the box.

Seeing her cousins expression change Lydia said, "What?"

"Since when did you have a Ouija board?" Rowan questioned as she held up the box.

"When we were kids, you don't remember?" Lydia exclaimed surprised as she stood up and pulled the box from her cousin's hand.

Rowan shook her head back and forth.

"We used to love playing with it until you took it away." Lydia said as she glanced over at her mom.

"I didn't have a problem with it… I put it in the basement because it scared the hell out of your father." Carol explained.

"Why? It's just a game… it's not like you can really talk to ghosts with it." Rowan joked as she picked up one of the Barbie's whose hair was cut off, and looked at it before dropping it back in the box.

"You really don't remember?" Carol asked as she looked to see how badly her manicure had been messed up from cleaning and moving things in the basement.

"I remember we played with this like… every night." Lydia answered as she opened the box and ran her fingers over the smooth board.

As Rowan sat down beside Lydia and picked up the eyelet, Carol said "Sean didn't have a problem with it until you started saying you were talking to a boy named Oliver."

"Wait… I remember a little boy we used to play with named Oliver." Rowan admitted, remembering back to when she spent summers with her cousin.

"Pretty sure he was our imaginary friend." Lydia chimed in as she pushed the box to the side.

"No, I remember him… he was just a little older than us at the time, he had red hair and blue eyes." Rowan corrected her.

Shrugging Lydia said, "No, he was your imaginary friend and I just played along like he was real."

Looking at her daughter Carol said, "Your father got scared when you both started talking about how his clothes were bloody and he'd been hit by a car."

"That's… really weird." Lydia said as a chill ran down her spine.

Nodding she continued, "The really weird part was when we looked into it and found out that a 7 year old boy had been hit and killed not even a mile from here, back in the 60s."

Rowan could feel the color drain from her face as she stared at her aunt in shock.

Pulling the plastic piece from her cousin's hands, Lydia said "We must have overheard someone talking about it."

Managing to compose herself Rowan nodded in agreement, "Yeah… definitely."

"I don't know, you weren't exactly your average child." Carol said, directing her attention to Rowan as Lydia excused herself and headed upstairs to call Jackson.

"Do I even want to know?" Rowan questioned, still feeling queasy from the Oliver story.

"I had to put locks up at the top of the doors, because you kept getting out of the house at night and winding up in the woods." She explained as she put the Ouija board box, back into the large box with other items from the basement.

"What?" Rowan asked.

"Yeah, there was this house out in the woods… and you kept winding up outside of it. I still never figured out how you managed to get there at night by yourself." Carol said with a thoughtful expression as she thought back years ago.

Just when Rowan had started to get her color back, she went pale again as she remembered finding the burnt remains of a house a week ago on her run.

"The house… the one I kept ending up by, was there a fire at it?" She questioned her voice shaky.

Still standing by the box on the coffee table, Carol dropped her arms to the side as she nodded and said "Yeah, about 6 years ago. It's a shame too, almost killed an entire family. They seemed nice too."

"You knew the family?" Rowan asked as she picked up Lynn who was starting to get fussy.

"No well, but they'd always call me when you'd end up by the house. One time they called because you'd somehow managed to get inside of the locked house and they found you asleep in the living room the next morning." She explained as she sat the box down in the corner of the room.

"I'd better get her changed and laid down for her nap." Rowan said as she left the room with her daughter, replaying the newly learned information over in her head.

The next week passed in a blur as she stayed busy getting herself and her daughter adjusted to the house and town, putting in applications and shopping with Lydia.

"I'm not ready for school to start." Lydia complained from the passenger seat of the car her cousin was driving.

Since Carol had recently bought herself a new van, she'd given Rowan her blue 2004 Honda Accord.

The cousins were on their way home after some last minute school shopping.

"Did you decide on a daycare?" Lydia questioned as she flipped the visor down and opened the mirror to apply a coat of lip stick.

"Yeah, I did. They're expensive though… I'm really hoping to hear back from one of the places I put an application in." Rowan confided.

"You know my mom doesn't care to pay for things." She reminded her.

Nodding Rowan said, "I know, but raising a baby is so expensive! I can't pay for everything by myself, but I can help out with a part time job."

Lydia looked over at her before she focused her attention back on her reflection.

"Do you think I should have gone with the lighter shade of this lipstick?" Lydia asked.

"No, I told you at the mall it looked good on you." She reminded her.

"I should have just bought them both." Lydia said under breathed as she started to apply another coat of her lipstick.

Rowan glanced down to turn on the hi-beam lights and when she looked back up she gasped and slammed on her breaks when she saw a woman standing in the middle of the road.

"What the hell?" Lydia yelled as she stared at her cousin in shock, with a thick line of lipstick extending from the corner of her mouth across her cheek.

Rowan didn't respond and Lydia looked down to her lap where the broken end of the lipstick was laying.

"This was new!" She exclaimed seeing no reason for why Rowan had come to such an abrupt stop.

"She's bleeding… oh my god." Rowan sad as she watched the woman turn and walk into the woods.

"Who?" Lydia asked leaning forward and looking down to see if they'd wounded an animal.

Without another word to her cousin, Rowan turned the blinkers on and got out of the car.

"Seriously?" Lydia exclaimed to herself as she opened up the passenger door and followed her cousin.

"Are you okay?" Rowan called out after the woman in front of her, but she didn't turn around or respond.

"You're bleeding, do you want me to call for an ambulance?" Rowan said louder, as she could see blood across the woman's back forming a line through her shirt, as the moon shined down brightly.

Finally the woman stopped and turned around, causing Rowan to gasp and jumped back in surprise at how pale the woman was.

Her skin was glowing luminously under the moonlight, but the skin around her sunk in eyes almost made them look like black holes.

Rowan then saw that she was bleeding from her stomach too, as if someone had just sliced right through her mid-section.

"What the hell is happening?" Lydia shrieked as she finally caught up with her cousin.

"I don't know." Rowan admitted as she looked over her shoulder to see her disheveled cousin with lipstick still smeared on her face.

When she looked back the woman was gone.

"Did you hit a freaking animal or something?" Lydia continued to question.

"What? No, didn't you see that woman in the middle of the road?" Rowan asked as she looked around to see where the stranger had gone.

"There was no woman in the middle of the road." Lydia argued irritated.

"Yes, there was." Rowan yelled, "You were too busy worrying about your lipstick."

Holding up the now almost empty tube, Lydia said "My ruined lipstick thanks to you and your driving."

She rolled her eyes and was getting ready to insult her cousin in response, but stopped when she saw her cousins skin go almost as pale as the woman shed seen.

"What?" Rowan asked.

"Hello?" Lydia called out, her voice shaky.

Spinning around Rowan saw what had startled Lydia, a set of bare legs was just visible from behind some shrubbery.

Rowan walked closer causing Lydia to quickly yell, "Be careful." as she stayed a few steps behind her.

"Oh… oh my god." Rowan said as she put a hand over her stomach immediately feeling sick.

"What?" Lydia asked.

Rowan spun around and said, "It's a body… it's half of a body."

"We have to get out of here… what if whoever killed her comes back?" Lydia questioned, choking back vomit as she now stood beside Rowan.

"The car… we can call the police from the car." Rowan agreed as both girls turned and ran back towards the hi-way.

Once they were safe inside the car with the doors locked, Rowan called the police and they waited to take them back to the body and give their statements.

Rowan lied about saying that she thought she might have hit an animal and followed it into the woods and that's how she came across the body.

Lydia agreed and backed her cousin's story, because she didn't have an explanation for what had happened either.

* * *

**A/N- I really hope you guys all liked the second chapter! I'm so excited for this story, I have so many plans for Rowan. ^_^**

**I really want to thank everyone who has added this story to their favorites or subscribed for update alerts.**

**Don't forget to check my profile where I have links for my Polyvore and Tumblr accounts, along with a few other Teen Wolf stories.**

**I love hearing from my readers so much! So if you're still reading, it would mean the world to me if you'd take a few moments to leave a review and let me know. ^_^ Thank you for reading!**


	3. First Day of School

**Chapter 3 – First Day of School**

* * *

The next morning Rowan woke up showered and changed into a pair of jeans, layered a blue tank top with a gray one and pulled on a pair of black boots.

She couldn't stop yawning as she dried her hair and applied make-up. She'd been up half the night wondering if the woman she'd seen had been real or a ghost.

Then there was the fact that she'd managed to find half of a dead body, three questions were weighing on her mind; who was the victim, who was murderer and where was the other half of the body?

After taking care of her daughter she put her in her carrier seat and headed downstairs where she saw Lydia and Jackson standing in the kitchen.

"Hey!" Lydia called to her smiling as Jackson nodded to her.

She let out a small sigh at Lydia's flawless appearance; you'd never know what she'd been through the night before.

"Morning. Gotta drop her off at the day care, see you guys in school." She replied as she rushed out to her car; after getting the seat locked into its base, she drove off.

Once she pulled into the school parking lot she breathed a sigh of relief at seeing she wasn't running near as late as she felt like she was.

As she was pulling into a parking spot her phone started to ring, her heart raced when she saw it was the daycare.

She quickly answered the phone before she'd even shut the car off, fearing something was wrong, but they were just reminding her she'd forgotten to drop off the paperwork.

Leaning over and picking up a notebook from her passenger seat she saw the forms she'd filled out but hadn't turned in.

They agreed to let her drop them off after school when she came to pick up Lynnox.

Already feeling like the day was off to a bad start, she angrily shoved the new notebooks and folders into her book bag and pushed her door open.

"No way." She breathed out under her breath when she heard a bang and metal scraping against metal.

"Really, I was parked here when you pulled in!" A teenage boy exclaimed as he rounded his jeep.

Grabbing her bag she jumped out of the car and immediately started apologizing, "I am so, so sorry! I really should have been paying more attention."

Stiles' eyes widened as he looked at her.

Nervously running a hand over his short hair he said, "It's okay, it was my fault…"

"No it wasn't. I'm in the process of getting a job and then I promise I'll pay for the repair, I'm so sorry… I'm normally a lot more cautious."

Looking at his freshly dented door and the paint transference he said "It's okay, both our cars are blue… you can hardly tell."

She raised her eyebrows and wondered if they were looking at the same spot on the door.

"Are you new?" He asked, already knowing the answer. He'd have remembered her if she was already a student there.

"Yeah, my first day." She responded, happy he wasn't mad about the damage to his car.

"Mine too." He said, smiling a wide smile at her.

"You're new too?" She questioned as she surveyed the parking lot for Lydia and Jackson.

"No, I meant it's the first day of this year for school." He corrected, mentally slapping himself.

"Oh." She said with a small laugh at his eccentric behavior, "I'm Rowan."

"Stiles." He introduced himself.

Then his eyes widened, "Wait… Rowan, aren't you the one who found the body in the woods last night?"

"Oh wow, word travels super quick around here… huh?" She breathed out wondering how many more people would be asking her about it.

"No, my dad's the Sherriff… I was listening when he got a phone call." Stiles explained, suddenly having a ton of questions for her.

But before he could ask even one, she cocked her head to the side and said "Isn't that illegal?"

"Uh, well… technically yeah. But I wasn't really listening in on the call, I just overheard." He quickly tried to cover.

"I'm kidding." She said laughing as she readjusted the bag on her shoulder.

"Which half of the body was it?" He asked her.

"Do I really have to answer that…" she answered with a disgusted look on her face.

Stiles excitedly opened his mouth to ask her another question, but she cut him off "You know it's really early in the morning, I didn't have time to eat breakfast… and I really don't want to talk about this."

"Oh, are you hungry?" He asked her, before she could respond he pulled a fully wrapped, but half smashed granola bar from the bottom of his of book bag.

"Okay, um… thanks, I think." She said, not sure how to react to him as she awkwardly looked down to the packaged food in her hand.

"So was it the top or bottom of the body?" He asked again.

Sighing she said, "Stiles..."

"Sorry." He apologized and continued to explain. "Scott and I were out there last night looking for other half of the body, but we weren't sure what half we were looking for."

"Who's Scott?" she asked, trying to follow his story.

"My best friend." Stiles responded.

"Oh, okay…" She said awkwardly as she looked over to see Jackson's Porsche speed into the parking lot and whip into an open spot.

"My cousin and her boyfriend are here and…" She started to excuse herself, but at the same time Stiles saw Scott chaining his bike up.

"You've got to tell Scott about this." He said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the other student as if they'd been friends for years and hadn't just met.

"Scott! Hey, get this… I found the girl who found the body in the woods." Stiles quickly blurted out.

Scott looked at Rowan before he turned his attention back to his best friend and said, "What did you do, go around asking everyone?"

"The girl who found the body in the woods, great… guess that's my identifier." She said under her breath, thinking neither of them could hear her.

Scott gave her an empathetic look.

"Tell him Rowan… about the body." Stiles encouraged her, practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

"There's not much to say… I found half a body and called the cops." She said, wanting to get away from Stiles.

"The bottom half of the body!" he chimed in.

"I know, I found the other half." Scott admitted.

"What?" Rowan gasped.

Stiles had been so excited to meet Rowan that he'd completely forgotten about Scott calling him the prior night after he'd made it back home. They'd gotten separated when Stiles' dad caught Stiles out in the woods.

"Let's see this thing." Stiles said to Scott, referring to the bite.

As Scott started to raise his shirt Rowan looked around and said, "I'm going to go now…"

But she looked as Scott removed the bandage and revealed a bite mark on his side as he said, "It was too dark to see much, but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf."

As Rowan's eyes focused on Scott's wounded flesh, she gasped and stumbled backwards as she exclaimed, "Red eyes!"

She had a few second long vision of Scott being chased by a large creature with glowing red eyes.

"What?" Both boys asked.

"N-nothing… there's my cousin." She stammered, shaken by the vision.

"Rowan, let's go." Lydia said as she neared her cousin, walking hand in hand with Jackson.

"Lydia, wow, you look… like you're going to ignore me." Stiles said as the teenage girl walked right past him without even a glance in his direction.

"I'm… I'm going with them." Rowan said as she turned and hurried after Lydia and Jackson.

As the couple went their separate ways, Lydia led Rowan to her locker.

"What is that?" Lydia asked as she saw the granola bar in her cousin's hand.

"A granola bar… that boy gave it to me for some reason." She answered, still not sure what to think of the encounter.

"What boy?" She asked as she put the magnetized mirror on the inside of her locker door and fixed her hair.

"That boy from outside, Stiles." Rowan explained as she looked down to the schedule in her hand for her locker number.

"I have no idea who that is." Lydia admitted as she shut her locker door and pulled the paper from her hands.

"I don't know either… but he just kept talking to me about the body in the woods and even pulled me over to meet his best friend. He's really weird." Rowan admitted.

Shrugging Lydia said, "I'll show you to your locker and your first class."

After they found Rowan's locker and Lydia introduced her to a few of the guys on the lacrosse team, the first bell had already rang.

"You're stop is here." Lydia said as she handed her the schedule back and said, "See you later, good luck."

Taking a deep breath she walked into the classroom and held her breath as all eyes were now on her.

"Can I help you?" the teacher asked as he looked over from writing on the chalk board.

"I'm new…" She said as she scanned the room, her eyes stopping on Stiles as he hurriedly scribbled in his notebook.

She looked down to the floor and hoped he wouldn't notice her.

After double checking his class roster he said, "Class, it looks like we have new student this is…"

"Rowan, hey!" Stiles greeted with a wide smile as he looked up.

"Looks like you've already made a friend, go ahead and have a seat behind Mr. Stilinski." The teacher said offering her a smile.

"Oh no we're not…" She started to explain that she didn't know Stiles well at all, but then decided it was pointless.

"Never mind." She mumbled as she turned and headed down the aisle between Scott and Stiles' desks.

Scott nodded and gave her a friendly smile, which she returned before sitting down.

"You didn't tell me you were in this class." Stiles said as he looked over his shoulder at her.

Her green eyes widened in confusion as she opened her notebook and didn't reply to him, she had no idea why he kept acting like they were friends.

It wasn't much later that the class was interrupted again when the door opened and another student walked in.

"Class, this is our new student Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome." The office assistant said before he left her standing at the front of the classroom.

"Have a seat." The teacher instructed nodding to an empty seat behind Scott.

As she sat down Scott turned around and handed her a pen.

"Thanks." She said taking it from him.

Then her face changed to a look of confusion, she'd been telling her mom on the phone that she hadn't brought a pen with her.

"Now that everyone is settled we'll begin with Metamorphosis on page 133." Their teacher said.

After class Stiles turned around to ask her what class she had next but she quickly bolted from the room and towards her locker.

"Hey." Allison said with a friendly smile as she stopped at her locker right beside her.

Looking over Rowan greeted, "It's Allison, right?"

She nodded and opened her locker.

"I'm Rowan, it's my first day too." She explained.

Letting out a deep breath Allison leaned up against the lockers and said, "So you understand how much it completely sucks to be the new girl?"

"Oh yeah… more than you know. My mom and I used to move around a lot." She explained.

"Oh trust me, I know. My family moves around more than military families." Allison said, immediately connecting with her.

"Where was the last place you moved from?" Rowan questioned.

"San Francisco." She responded as she closed her locker.

"New York for me." Rowan said.

"Maybe this will be our last stop for a while." Allison offered, her tone hopeful.

Rowan nodded and looked over her shoulder to where Scott and Stiles were standing at their lockers staring at Allison and Rowan.

"They're in our English class, right?" Allison questioned her gaze steadily on Scott.

"Yeah, but… the one with really short hair is weird." Rowan whispered, peering back over her shoulder.

"How so?" Allison asked with a laugh.

"He keeps acting like we're friends and I don't know him…" She whispered.

Nodding Allison said, "Normally when you're the new girl, no one talks to you because they're all in their own cliques."

"That jacket is absolutely killer." Lydia said as she joined them.

"Uh thanks." Allison said, thinking how people seemed so much nicer at this school that at her last one.

"Allison, this is my cousin Lydia. I just moved in with her. Lydia, this is Allison she's new too." Rowan introduced them.

"Hey." Allison said smiling at Lydia.

"Where'd you get that?" She asked as she reached out and felt the material on her sleeve.

"My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco before we moved." She answered.

Rowan smiled as Lydia said, "And you are my new best friend."

It was nice to be at school and already be making friends, she started to think to herself that maybe living in Beacon Hills wouldn't be so bad.

The three teenagers kept talking as they headed to their next class with Lydia telling Allison about the party that Friday.

After school and watching Lacrosse tryouts with Lydia and their new friend Allison, Rowan stopped by the daycare to pick up her daughter and went to the house to pick up Prada for the vet.

Knowing where they were going, Prada refused to get in the car so Rowan had to put her in the car.

As she pulled to a stop outside of the animal clinic she first detached the baby carseat carrier from the base, then tried to coax the dog out of the car.

"Prada, come on!" she said, starting to get frustrated.

When the dog refused to get out of the car, she went over to the passenger side and sat the carrier down, but the movement startled the resting infant and she immediately started to cry.

"Damn it." She breathed out as she quickly leaned down and took her baby from the carrier.

A few minutes later Scott rode up and dropped his bike by the building and saw Rowan struggling to juggle the baby and try to get the dog out of the car.

"Rowan, hey… do you need some help?" He asked her.

Looking up at him, her eyes were a little watery from stress as she responded, "I was late picking her up from daycare and now Prada's being stubborn, she's upset and every single one of my teachers gave out homework on the first day."

"Uh, okay… well, I can help you with some of it." He said, trying to block out the baby's cries.

He walked up to her, intending to open the car and get the small dog out.

"Thank you so much!" She said, as she handed him the baby.

Almost immediately, Lynnox stopped crying and reached up towards Scott as she giggled happily.

He stared down the baby awkwardly, now knowing what to do.

Animals he knew, he'd always been good with animals. But infants were a different story, he didn't know the first thing about them.

"You are a miracle worker." Rowan said as she opened the door and pulled the dog out, tucking it under one arm and picking up the empty car seat with the other hand.

"I guess she likes me." Scott said with a shrug.

"I'd say so, I've never seen her act like that with anyone before." Rowan admitted.

"Is she yours?" Scott asked, shocked. He hadn't thought she had a kid.

"Yeah, she's mine… this is Lynnox." She said as she smiled down to her daughter still making happy noises and squirming around in Scott's arms.

"Maybe she just likes guys." Rowan considered out loud.

"Why? Is she like this with her dad too?" He wondered as they started for the building.

Looking down to the ground and pausing in front of the door she said, "I wouldn't know… she's never met her dad."

"Oh, I'm sorry… I shouldn't have said anything." Scott quickly added.

"It's okay." She assured him as she opened the door and held it for him as he walked in, still awkwardly holding the baby.

"Scott, you're late." Dr. Deaton said not looking up from the file he was making notes in.

"Sorry, he was trying to help me… I'm late for Prada's appointment too." She said.

Dr. Deaton looked up to see the two teens.

His eyes widened as he looked at her, before he gave a knowing smile in the baby's direction.

"Not a problem, we're not busy today." He assured her as he nodded for them to follow him back to one of the exam rooms.

As Deaton checked the small dog over and gave her –her yearly shots, he listened to Rowan and Scott as they talked.

"You want her back?" Scott asked, hopeful as he turned to her.

"No, she likes you… she's calm and quiet." Rowan said shaking her head.

Scott nodded, wanting to help her any way that he could, but still not sure what to do.

The two teens made small talk, Rowan told him how she'd applied for a job at a bunch of places.

"Alright, she's ready to go." Deaton said, interrupting them.

"Awesome, thank you so much." She said as she picked the dog back up, tucking her back under her arm.

Dr. Deaton nodded, still giving her the same knowing smile he had from when he'd first seen her.

After getting the car seat secured back in the car, she thanked Scott for his help and headed back home.

Wondering why her daughter had liked Scott so much; she'd really never seen her act like that with anyone before him.

* * *

**A/N - Thanks for reading, I hope you guys all liked the update. Please take a few moments to leave a review.**

**Don't worry... Derek will be back next chapter! ^_~**

**I have a few other Teen Wolf stories up on my profile, along with posted links to my Tumblr and Polyvore accounts.**


	4. Dreaming

**Chapter 4 – Dreaming**

* * *

A few nights later Lydia was laying on her cousin's bed while Rowan was sitting at her computer desk putting the finishing touches on her essay.

Just as she she'd emailed the paper to her teacher she shivered and looked around her room as the temperature seemed to drop suddenly.

"What is that?" Rowan asked as her body shook from not only the coldness but from fear as she could see her breath.

Lydia glanced up from where she was laying and her eyes widened as she could also see her cousins breath.

"W-why is it so cold?" Rowan stuttered.

"It's not…" Lydia admitted as she stood up and slowly walked closer.

As she reached a shaking hand out, she quickly jerked it back and said, "It's only freezing cold right by you."

As the coldness slowly faded, Rowan looked up just in time to see the same woman from the woods walk past her bedroom door.

"Did you see that?" she gasped as she raced out into the hallway after her.

"See what?" Lydia called after her as she slowly followed her, not sure she wanted to see what her cousin was talking about.

When Lydia reached the living room she saw Rowan standing and staring straight ahead.

"Ro?" Lydia asked as she gently touched her cousins' shoulder.

Spinning around Rowan gasped which caused Lydia to scream.

"Oh my god… you've got a set of lungs." Rowan complained as she rubbed her ears.

Lydia stared at her wide eyed, "What did you see?"

"The same woman from the night in the woods." Rowan answered.

"I didn't see anyone." Lydia stated confidently.

Rowan shrugged and then sighed when she heard Lynnox start crying from upstairs.

"I need to check on her." She said, brushing past her.

After a pause Lydia exclaimed, "What the hell is going on with you?"

That night Rowan's sleep was restless and filled with a dream about Scott waking up in the woods in his boxers as he tried to figure out what was going on, a monster with glowing red eyes chased him.

In the dream she'd gotten between him and the monster and it had knocked her down.

She groaned in pain as she fell a sharp twig stuck her side.

"Rowan!" Lydia yelled as she pushed open the door to her room.

Snapping awake she gasped and sat straight up in the bed.

With a yawn and a slightly raspy voice Lydia said, "I changed Lynn and got her calmed down enough to sleep; I don't know how you didn't hear her screaming."

Rowan started too moved, but something poked her hand.

"Turn on the light." She said, worried about what was in the bed with her.

As Lydia flipped on the lights her eyes widened as she saw the sheets from the bed were across the room, and rowan was sitting on the bare mattress which was covered in leaves and small twigs.

Sliding out of the bed and standing up, Rowan fearfully backed away from her bed shaking her head back and forth.

Reaching out Lydia plucked a leaf from her hair and said, "How is this possible? I've been awake off and on all night, my room is freezing cold and I never heard you leave the house."

"I… I don't know what's happening." Rowan admitted as tears burnt her eyes.

Grabbing her arm Lydia said, "Come on, just sleep in my room."

Nodding and in a state of terror and confusion she let Lydia lead her down the hallway towards her room.

As the girls walked inside they were greeted by a blast of ice cold air. Lydia let go of Rowan and opened her closet to pull another blanket out for them.

Something pulled her attention to the corner of the room and Rowan gasped as she saw the same ghost she'd seen that led her to the body in the woods.

As the girls got into Lydia's bed, Rowan buried her face in the pillow and started to cry, feeling so overwhelmed from everything that was going on.

"Are you okay?" Lydia asked, with a shiver as she pulled the blanket up to her neck.

"Not really…" Rowan admitted, as she looked up to the see the woman was still there.

The next morning Lydia kept talking about the party that night, and all Rowan could think about was what was happening to her. Why was she seeing ghosts, dreaming about a monster with red eyes and what did any of that have to do with Scott?

**~()~**

Later that day at school, Rowan was at her locker before lunch and heard Jackson and Scott arguing.

She was so tired that she was only half paying attention to them, and missed the part of the conversation where Jackson accused Scott of taking steroids.

What caught her attention was when Jackson slammed Scott against the lockers and said, "What the hell is going on with you McCall?"

She shut her locker and started towards them, but stopped dead in her tracks when she heard Scott say, "What's going on with me, really wanna know? Well, so would I because I can see, hear and smell thing that I shouldn't be able to see, hear and smell. I do things that should be impossible, I'm sleepwalking three miles into the middle of the woods and I'm pretty much convinced that I'm totally out of the freaking mind."

Once Jackson walked away Rowan walked up to him, "Are you okay?"

Scott nodded and moved away from the lockers where Jackson had –had him pinned.

"I… overheard what you said, what do you mean sleepwalking three miles into the woods?" She asked him.

Shrugging he said, "I have no idea what's happening to me. I woke up this morning out in the middle of the woods and I have no idea how I got there."

He saw some of the color drain from her face as she remembered the dream she'd had.

"I mean, how weird is that?" Scott continued to mumble.

"About as weird as waking up in a bed full of leaves." She responded.

"What?" Scott asked thrown off by what she said.

"Nothing… I just, I have to go." She said as she took off to find Lydia in the lunchroom.

She was happy she'd reached her table before anyone else.

"Get this!" Rowan exclaimed as she slid into a chair across from her cousin.

"I'm listening." Lydia said as she took a bite of her salad.

"Last night, before I woke up and my bed was all covered with leaves and sticks, I was having this dream about Scott…" She began to explain but, Lydia cut her off.

"Well, I wouldn't tell Allison. You know they're going to the party together, right?" Lydia said.

"I don't care about the party. Anyways, I had a dream that he was being chased through the woods and I overheard him talking about how he sleepwalked three miles into the woods last night!" She admitted, her green eyes wide.

"Maybe your psychic… hmm, maybe we should play the lottery." Lydia joked.

Rowan sighed, "I'm not psychic."

"What?" Allison asked with a small laugh as she saw down with them.

"Nothing." Rowan said, but Lydia said "Rowan's seeing ghosts and having dreams that are coming true."

"What, seriously?" Allison asked as she looked at Rowan.

"You can't tell anyone, okay?" Rowan said, her voice in a hushed whisper.

Allison nodded and listened as Rowan explained what her aunt had told her about when she was younger, and how she'd seen a ghost who led her to the body in the woods.

She left out the part about dreaming about Scott wandering around the woods in his boxers.

"I'd just be… freaking out." Allison said when she was done.

"You don't think I'm crazy?" Rowan asked, shocked. She was really starting to doubt her own sanity.

"No, I mean… I've always kind of thought there might be more out there, and there has to be something after we die." Allison explained her reasoning.

"So, this ghost that you keep seeing… what does it want?" Lydia asked.

Rowan looked between her cousin and friend as she said, "I seriously cannot believe we're having this conversation right now…"

When they both kept staring at her expectantly, "I don't know… she just stands there." She said with a sigh of defeat.

"If you're being haunted, it must be for a reason." Allison said as she finished her slice of pizza.

"Well, when you figure it out… let me know." She said quietly as she looked down to the table.

Lydia shrugged and drank down the last of her bottle of water.

Gasping and immediately perking up Allison said, "We could have a séance!"

"Oh, creepy." Lydia said smiling at her new friend.

"Oh no, no way… maybe if we keep ignoring the situation, it will go away." Rowan said hopeful. The last thing she wanted to do was dabble in things that might make life worse for her.

"The party is tonight, but you could stay Saturday night." Lydia said.

"Yeah, that'd be great." Allison agreed.

Rowan dropped her fork and leaned back in her chair as she listened to them making plans for the weekend. She didn't understand how they could both be so happy and laughing, when she was terrified.

**~()~**

"Are we sure going to a party is a good idea?" Rowan asked as she stood in her bedroom, and looked at her cousin.

"A party is always a good idea." Lydia said as she fixed her hair and then checked her phone.

"Jackson's here, see you at the party." Lydia said with a wink, as she turned and left.

Taking a deep breath Rowan faced herself in the mirror, she was wearing a green dress with a thick black belt around the waist, black lace up heels and a dark green leather jacket.

After checking on Lynnox and then making sure Carol was okay if she left for the party, Rowan was in her car driving past the woods.

As she neared the spot where she'd seen the ghost only a week prior, she had an uneasy feeling in her stomach again.

"No, no, no…" she breathed out as he car slowed down and all the lights shut off.

Carefully steering off the side of the road, she leaned forward and rested her head on the steering wheel, afraid to look up and around.

What if she saw the ghost again? What if whatever she'd seen chasing Scott through the woods came back and got her?

Finally getting the courage she raised her head and looked around, but didn't see anyone.

Popping the hood and getting out she used the light from her cellphone to look under the hood, not sure what she was even looking for.

A car that was heading down the road slowed and came to a stop next to her.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked leaning over and talking through the open passenger window.

"Not really… I think the battery is dead or something." She admitted, for the first time she was really happy to see him.

"I've got jumper cables." She said as he started to pull off to the side of the road, but she heard something in the woods behind them.

Slamming the hood down she said, "I'm going to call my aunt, can you just give me a ride to the party?"

Stiles didn't have time to answer as she was already getting into his car, and franticly looking behind her.

"Did you see something?" He asked, leaning forward and looking past her as she quickly rolled up the window on her side.

"No, and if you go we may not have too." She exclaimed motioning for him to drive.

After giving her a questioning look, he started to drive towards the party. He was worried about Scott, since tonight was a full moon.

Rowan called, and her aunt said they'd call someone to tow the car in the morning.

Stiles looked over at her as she tucked her phone back in the pocket of her leather jacket.

"You look really great tonight." He offered with a smile.

"Thanks, I had Lydia pick something out for me because I have no idea what to wear to a high school party." She admitted with a small laugh.

"Like, a high school party in Beacon Hills?" He asked her.

"No, like a high school party in general. I didn't really have much of a social life my freshman year." She explained, leaving out the fact that it was because she was pregnant at the time.

"Well, I wasn't going to admit it until you said something, but I've never really been invited to one of these parties before." He admitted, looking over at her.

She smiled at him, thinking that maybe she'd judged him too quickly the first week of school when he kept finding her and talking to her like they'd been friends for years.

Once they reached the party he said, "I can give you a ride home after… if you want."

"Yeah, that would be awesome… thank you." She said smiling.

Before she could say anything else to him, Lydia walked by and grabbed her arm pulling her to the kitchen where she introduced her to a few other first line lacrosse players.

After talking to them for a little bit, Rowan excused herself and found her way back into the living room.

"You know, these parties aren't near as fun as everyone says they are." Stiles joked as he found her.

"I know, right!" She said with a laugh and then looked around at everyone else who seemed to be having fun as she said, "Or maybe it's just because no one is talking to us."

Stiles looked around and said, "That might have something to do with it."

She watched as he took a drink from his red plastic cup.

"Hey do you want a drink, I can get you one." He offered.

"No way." She answered quickly and sternly.

"It was just a friendly offer." He stated, surprised at her reaction.

Rubbing her forehead she said, "I'm sorry. It's just, I don't drink anymore… I really learned my lesson."

Making a joke Stiles said, "Recovering alcoholic?"

She glanced down to the ground and then back up at him, she figured if he didn't know already he was bound to find out.

"No, actually the last time I let a guy buy me drinks, I ended up pregnant." She admitted to him, wondering if he'd still want to be friends with her now.

He shook his head, and took a drink as he laughed.

When she gave him a completely serious look, his eyes widened and he spit the drink back into his cup as he asked, "Oh my god, you're serious?"

"Yeah, I… I didn't have a social life last year because I was pregnant." She explained.

He stood entirely speechless, he would have never guessed she was teenage mother.

"And that's the reaction I normally get… I'm just gonna…. get some air, or something." She said, as she quickly turned and disappeared into the crowded house.

Moments later she emerged from a side door and looked around the unfamiliar side yard, she felt like someone was watching her as she started around to the back yard where the party had spilled out into.

Turning around to look behind her again she wasn't paying attention and tripped over an empty beer bottle someone had left on the ground.

She turned around, just in time to see she was falling towards the stone fire pit.

But before she even had time to scream, someone grabbed her saving her just in the nick of time.

"Oh… god, oh my god." She said franticly as she thought how that fall could have been the death of her.

"Thank you…" She started to say as she looked up and was met by a familiar face.

"Derek?" She gasped, as she remembered back to meeting him over year ago at the bar in New York.

He looked at her confused, then it slowly dawned on him who she was, she looked younger and a lot different without her face covered in makeup.

Immediately looking down to the ground she said, "And you don't remember me, great."

"Rowan, right?" he asked.

She breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it would make it a lot easier to tell him they had a kid together if he remembered her.

"Yeah." She nodded as her heart started to race.

How was she supposed to tell him they had a daughter? Should she tell him they need to talk, or just get it out before she lost her nerve.

"Wait, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I moved in with…" She started to explain then her forehead lined with confusion as she said, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm from here." He explained, as he glanced past her to see Scott walking outside with Allison.

"My cousin lives here…" she answered, then glanced over her shoulder to see what he was staring at.

When she turned back around he was gone.

"Derek?" she asked looking around.

After searching the backyard she made her way inside of the house and picked up a bottle of beer from the cooler.

"Change your mind about drinking?" Stiles questioned as he found her again.

"Is that the cup you spit into?" She questioned.

"No, I threw that one away." He explained.

Handing him the bottle of beer she took his cup and chugged the contents of the spiked punch.

He looked down to the bottle in his hand, and slowly took a drink as he gave her a questioning look.

"Sorry, but I needed something stronger than beer. In fact, I need several drinks stronger than beer." She explained as she started to walk past him.

"Did he threaten you or something?" Stiles asked, as he gently grabbed her arm.

"What?" She asked confused.

"I saw you talking to Derek, the dude is creepy." Stiles explained.

"You know him?" She gasped, thinking how entirely small the word must really be."

Shrugging Stiles said, "I know of him."

"Tell me what you know." She demanded.

Stiles glanced around, wondering what her sudden interest in Derek was about.

"Well, his name is Derek Hale… his family was killed in a fire and he's kinda scary." Stiles said.

"A fire… oh my god." She gasped, realizing the house in the woods she'd ended up at with no explanation must have been his house.

"Maybe we should get you another drink." Stiles offered as he wasn't sure what to say to her.

"No, no way." She argued.

The last time she'd drank at the same place as Derek Hale, it resulted in a one night stand with life altering consequences.

Trying to change the subject, Stiles apologized for reacting the way he had when he learned about her daughter.

"We have to talk about something else." Rowan said shaking her head back and forth, not wanting Derek to overhear anything about her having a daughter.

"Okay…" Stiles said.

The two teens stayed in the living room and talked about different things, until Stiles saw Scott stumbling out of the party,

Worried about his best friend, he chased after him.

"What happened?" Rowan asked as she now stood beside Allison on the front lawn.

They'd just watched Scott speed off and Stiles go after him.

"I have no idea, but Stiles was supposed to be my ride home." Rowan admitted.

"I can call my mom to come get us." Allison offered as she felt her pockets for her phone.

"Allison, I'm a friend of Scott's. My name's Derek… he asked if I could give you a ride home, he's not feeling well." Derek said to the teenager.

He knew the one way to get through to Scott was Allison.

Allison looked at Rowan who was staring at him wide eyed and had some sweat starting to bead on her forehead.

"That's okay, I'm supposed to make sure she gets home." Allison lied, stepping closer to Rowan.

"Rowan, I can give you a ride home too." He offered.

"You know him?" Allison whispered.

"I don't know how to answer that question." Rowan whispered back before nodding to Derek and following him towards his car.

Allison rushed after them as she checked her phone to see if she had a message or call from Scott, but she didn't.

Rowan sat in the front seat of the car and Allison sat in the back, the drive was quiet and Allison took her jacket off laying it beside her in the seat.

Stopping at Allison's house first, Rowan got out of the car and laid the seat down so Allison could get out.

As she climbed out of the car she said, "You can stay here tonight." She wasn't sure how she felt about leaving Rowan alone with Derek.

"It's okay I really just want to get home, you're still coming over tomorrow, right?" She asked her.

"Yeah, I'll be there." Allison said nodding.

As Rowan got back in the car, Allison said, "Call me when you get home."

She nodded and pulled her door shut.

Once they were gone Rowan looked over at Derek and opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off.

"What were you doing a high school party?" He asked.

"uh… what were you doing at a high school party?" She questioned back.

He gave her an un-amused look.

"I… may not have been completely honest when we met." She admitted as she smoothed the fabric of her dress down.

"I'm starting to get that." Derek said, as he still waited on her to explain.

"I'm in high school." She finally said, cringing at having to admit that she'd lied.

He didn't immediately respond.

"I'm uh, really mature for my age…" she mumbled softly not sure what to say, but not liking the uncomfortable silence of the car.

"And how old are you?" He asked as he pulled to a stop outside of her house.

"I'm… 16." She admitted.

"You're… 16?" He responded, a look of shock on his face.

"So when I met you…" his voice tailed off.

"I was 15." She said, looking down to her lap.

"You said you were in college." He stated, some anger present in his voice.

"No, you assumed I was in college." She defended, not feeling like she should be taking all the blame for what happened.

"You sure as hell didn't correct me." He pointed out.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, now certainly didn't seem like the best time to tell him about Lynnox.

Her green eyes were wide with fear as she looked over at him and said, "I think we should talk…"

"Now's not a good time." He said, a little gruffer than he'd meant too.

Right now, he had to find Scott before he either killed someone, or got himself killed.

"Okay…" she said as she opened the car door.

"Thanks for the ride." She quickly stuttered out, before she exited the car and jogged up to her front door.

* * *

**A/N- Thank you for reading. I hope you all liked the chapter.**

**I'm sorry updates have been so slow, I have a very limited amount of time on my computer and believe when I say it's not just this story I've been slacking on updating.**

**But since today is Christmas I'm on an updating spree. ^_^**

**I hope you're all having a great holiday season and that 2014 brings you everything you're hoping for!**

**XO**


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